Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?

[John57sharp]

Not much DMU discussion on the local RSpB boards, but our local reserve (Burton Wetlands) does occasionally produce something slightly more interesting than the regular performers.

John

 

[daifly]

Not quite in the garden but just over the fence. A few visitors to the railway yesterday morning.

Looks like something's taken a bite out of bunny's ear!
Dave

 

[Dog Star]

Makes me wonder if the RSPB has a "What class of DMU is that?" topic on its forum.

What a pity that this quote was not posted last Thursday... imagine the possibilities for an official RSPB reply.

"We are not sure about any pages for DMU descriptions, we do have web pages for a better breed of bird such as these of the A4 Genus:-

- Merlin, Falcon, Peregrine all of the Raptor sub-class;

And there are some other, lesser breeds, such as Mallard."


Sorry to say no photos of the engine, maybe this photo of a resident of our village pond at speed might be acceptable:-

 

[Dog Star]

My apologies for a missed opportunity, getting the Box Brownie into position took too long.

Today, just before the snow at around noon, I looked up from the workbench in the workshop to be confronted by piercing, brilliant orange, eyes - about 8" above a pair of Chrome yellow claws - a Sparrow Hawk was sitting on the garden fence about ten feet from the window. I put the first sighting in January (the original post which prompted this topic) down to a bird blown off-course or out of its domicile territory... this second sighting may suggest that there is a bird (or birds) living closer to hand.

regards, Graham

 

[Ressaldar]

Amazing the range of knowledge available on this site and I enjoy the diversions topics take. Makes me wonder if the RSPB has a "What class of DMU is that?" topic on its forum.

Hi John,

I'm sure that you made a typo there and it should have read EMU!

regards

Mike

 

[Max M]

My apologies for a missed opportunity, getting the Box Brownie into position took too long.

Today, just before the snow at around noon, I looked up from the workbench in the workshop to be confronted by piercing, brilliant orange, eyes - about 8" above a pair of Chrome yellow claws - a Sparrow Hawk was sitting on the garden fence about ten feet from the window. I put the first sighting in January (the original post which prompted this topic) down to a bird blown off-course or out of its domicile territory... this second sighting may suggest that there is a bird (or birds) living closer to hand.

We have had a male Sparrowhawk that zooms through at least once a day and will often perch in our apple tree.
If it see even a slight movement it's off. It occasionally leaves us a circle of feathers on the ground below where it has been preparing lunch.
Saw the first Martins and Swallows of the year over the weekend which was a nice surprise.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Spotted today in the field bordering our garden an Albino ? Pheasant.



Col.

 

[Jon Nazareth]

Certainly looks like one. I remember some years ago seeing a white pheasant in our local estate here in West Sussex.

Jon

 

[Max M]

We see the other end of the spectrum, an occasional Melanistic Pheasant.

 

[Osgood]

On the subject of bird tables, today I prepared the post - all 5ft 6" of it - for our new bird table:



It was headed for the scrap bin which seemed a crying shame, and will soon go a nice shade of rust.
I don't think a conventional wooden top will look right, so I need to find a suitable ferrous item to re-purpose.
On one side we have garden birds, on the other side we have the woodland species, so this one will be for the big birds.
Its heavy - impossible to lift even one end by hand - and it certainly won't blow over in a hurry!

 

[Eastsidepilot]

On the subject of bird tables, today I prepared the post - all 5ft 6" of it - for our new bird table:

View attachment 141682

It was headed for the scrap bin which seemed a crying shame, and will soon go a nice shade of rust.
I don't think a conventional wooden top will look right, so I need to find a suitable ferrous item to re-purpose.
On one side we have garden birds, on the other side we have the woodland species, so this one will be for the big birds.
Its heavy - impossible to lift even one end by hand - and it certainly won't blow over in a hurry!

Only 5 cyl. you're slipping Tony how about another flywheel on top for a table ?

Col.

 

[Osgood]

Well there is the damper, about 1/2 the flywheel dia., but even that is too heavy to lift so it is in the scrap bin.
The huge air cleaner with louvred canister would make an ideal table and house by dropping the oil bowl 9”, but that has been earmarked for another engine.

 

[Osgood]

Aha - somewhere I have a couple of huge ancient lathe faceplates!

 

[Focalplane]

I am finding this thread very frustrating - my Nikon lenses are locked down in France. Our new home in Hampshire has provided much interest during the winter and now Spring is sort of coming (snow this morning again) our summer visitors should be arriving. The best of the flock so far during the winter are a tribe of 5 goldfinches but they are proving to be iPhone shy!

I have to admit that my knowledge of British birds is rather basic. Having lived in Texas on one of the best migration routes on the planet, we were avid birders, spending a lot of time on the beaches photographing brown pelicans, a species almost eliminated by the use of DDT.

 

[Dog Star]

Photo by My Good Lady, taken this morning through a window. I think that what we have here is a Rook... although the relevant RSPB web page suggests that Rooks are not likely to frequent rural gardens.



This bird has made several visits in this week, sitting on the seed tray and eating from the fat log.

A scale ruler attached to the feeder would be useful for sizing.

Especially for Dave (@daifly), the height of the wire cage of the feeder with the fat log - 9 inches from base to bottom edge of the cap.

 

[daifly]

Thank you Graham!
Dave

 

[Max M]

The grey beak says it's a Rook. Whilst not a usual garden visitor they are once they know there is easy food.
A Rook with a back beak is a Carrion Crow.

 

[Osgood]

There's a simple Norfolk way of telling if it is a rook.

Dew yew see a rook on his own, tha's a crow.
Dew yew see a crowd 'a crows, they'll be rooks.

 

[John Ross]

Using his excellent eyesight and sense of hearing this pheasant observes the DRS Tesco Inverness Freight Sidings to Mossend Down Yard service diverted on to the Inverness-Aberdeen line due to problems with the Highland mainline.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

The grey beak says it's a Rook. Whilst not a usual garden visitor they are once they know there is easy food.
A Rook with a back beak is a Carrion Crow.

There's a simple Norfolk way of telling if it is a rook.

Dew yew see a rook on his own, tha's a crow.
Dew yew see a crowd 'a crows, they'll be rooks.

We live in the middle of farm land and the rooks never land in our garden even though we feed the birds from feeders and tables, maybe they don't like the look of the cats, but what I have noticed is that we do see more Jackdaws than Rooks and Crows, in fact the Jackdaws have nested in our neighbour's chimney.

Col.